More Than Kin
More Than Kin is the fifteenth episode of the second season of Empire and the twenty-seventh episode overall. It aired on April 27th, 2016. With help from Andre, Lucious hosts a fundraiser, as part of his campaign to prove to the board that he should return as Empire's CEO. Meanwhile, Hakeem must decide whether he wants to be a father to his and Anika's child. Plot Songs * Got That Work - Hakeem Lyon (Yazz) * Good Enough (Remix) - Jamal Lyon (Jussie Smollett) Cast Main Cast *Terrence Howard as Lucious Lyon *Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon *Trai Byers as Andre Lyon *Jussie Smollett as Jamal Lyon *Bryshere Y. Gray as Hakeem Lyon *Grace Gealey as Anika Calhoun *Kaitlin Doubleday as Rhonda Lyon *Ta'Rhonda Jones as Porsha Taylor (absent; credit only) *Gabourey Sidibe as Becky Williams *Serayah as Tiana Brown (absent; credit only) Recurring Cast * Bre-Z as Freda Gatz * AzMarie Livingston as Chicken * Rafael de La Fuente as Michael Sanchez * Andre Royo as Thirsty Rawlings * Jamila Velazquez as Laura Calleros * Annie Ilonzeh as Harper Scott Guest Cast *Fantastic Negrito as himself *Sara Sevigny as Edna *Will Kinnear as Leonard Bernstein *Jessica Klaas as Sonja (Lucious' Assistant) *Gregory Fenner as Blogger #1 *Brian Plocharczyk as Paramedic #1 *Sandra Marquez as Nurse *Kiley Moone as Reporter *Marcell Johnson as Marcel Major/Highlighted Events * Hakeem reveals to Laura that he impregnated Anika. ** Laura breaks up their engagement after Hakeem states that they could still be a family, with him being the husband and father, Anika the mother of his child and Laura as his wife, Laura adding that he and she have very different ideas of what a family is. However, she later resumes her engagement with Hakeem when she realizes how devoted Hakeem is to family and his unborn child. * Since two of the board members are petitioning to have an outside person become the new CEO of Empire, Cookie and Lucious work together to get Lucious reinstated as CEO. ** Cookie decides to have all of her sons come on stage with Lucious in order to sell the idea that Empire is a family business meant to be run by the Lyons. However, knowing that both Jamal and Hakeem will refuse if she asks, Cookie asks Andre to ask his brothers and to make it seem like it is his idea. Andre agrees, but stipulates that she should throw a fundraiser for the National Alliance for Bipolar Disorder, in which Andre would come out publicly about his mental illness, which would not only raise money for bipolar disorder but also show a more humanizing side towards Lucious. * After Lucious threatens Anika's life, Hakeem tells his father that he will never see his son or his grandson ever again if anything happens to Anika. ** Anika has a panic attack and is hospitalized, with Cookie riding in the ambulance with her. Cookie assures her fears and aids her in relaxing, telling her to keep their past in the past, all so Hakeem's child would be fine. However, Anika points out that her child isn't just Hakeem's child - it is also Cookie's grandchild. ** Hakeem also learns from Anika's mother that Lucious had Anika's father commit fraud. * Lucious begins to engage in a sexual relationship with reporter Harper Scott; however, their affair is cut brief when Cookie calls Lucious' phone to tell him that Anika has been hospitalized. Angry and embarrassed at their sexual tryst being cut short, Harper announces that perhaps she should do her story on Cookie instead, calling her a manipulative bitch who has Lucious wrapped around her finger. Lucious, in turn, gets angry and shoves her down, telling her to never say bad things about Cookie again. ** Lucious then betrays his initial promise to Harper that she could have an exclusive scoop on his life by sharing his story with another outlet, thereby rendering Harper's work useless. Harper, in revenge, gives photographs of Lucious' mother to Andre, revealing to Andre that his grandmother is still alive in a senior home outside of Philadelphia. * Cookie and Lucious go on stage to promote Cookie's new idea - to have the Lyon family perform at the ASA awards, thereby having Lucious, Jamal and Hakeem perform together on stage for the first time, dubbing the act "The First Family of Music". ** Following Cookie's announcement, the board decides to appoint both Lucious and Cookie as CEO of Empire Entertainment, causing the two co-founders to now become co-CEOs. Trivia * With this episode, every member of the core Lyon family with the exception of Andre have held the title of CEO of Empire Entertainment. * This episode marks the second time the Empire intertitle/logo has changed during this season. As of this episode, the Empire intertitle now has a gold vinyl record as the logo, replacing Hakeem's face. Category:Episodes Category:Season Two Episodes